I have not done a great job documenting all of the everyday details of Will, so this post will be very detailed (for my own records, mostly). I don't expect everyone to care about which specific words he knows, so feel free to skip through and look at the cute pictures.
Sleeping
He has just switched over to only one nap a day. It was sad for all of us. However, he is still a fantastic sleeper at night! We give him his binky, baby, and water, zip him into his sleep sack, turn on his white noise, and lay him right down. He rarely even makes a sound after that. Then, he sleeps for 11 to 12 hours. It is so awesome. Every single night, I think about how lucky we are that bedtime is not a struggle. I'm sure that will change someday, but right now, we are loving it!!!
He still LOVES his binky (all day, not just at night). He likes to hold several at a time if possible. We are working on limiting them, but it hasn't gone well so far. Really, it has been a nightmare and the most difficult thing we have attempted so far.
He is getting so tall that I had to sew him a new sleep sack (that is extra long).
Eating
Will has always been an eating champ (except for that rice cereal!). He eats almost everything that we eat. He tries anything we offer him (and he especially wants the things that we are keeping for ourselves). He loves all kinds of flavors and spices. Every once in a while, I think that we have finally found something that he does NOT like (scrambled eggs, salad, etc), but then he changes his mind a week later. He is a much better vegetable eater than I am.
When we aren't eating dinner with Daniel, Will and I eat most of our meals together on the couch (that is covered with blankets). We like to be comfy and cozy.
He wasn't too fond of whole milk at the beginning (and the following few months), but he loves it now.
Play
He loves to be outside. We went to a park/the zoo/splashpads/on a walk every day this summer (usually multiple times a day). I'm not sure how he is going to handle being cooped up for the Seattle rainy season.
He is ACTIVE (indoors or outdoors).
He loves all things with wheels (trucks, tractors, trains, and buses especially).
He is a good friend. We are still working on sharing at times, but he is generally very friendly and (mostly) gentle. He loves to give hugs to other kids.
He LOVES babies. All babies. Everywhere.
Signing and Talking
He signs around 25 things daily (more, milk, water, food, please, thank you, hurt, all done, airplane, bird, dog, baby, friend, sleep, train, car, bus, cold, hot, boat, fish, cry, potty, mom, dad), and lots more occasionally.
He started signing to us around 9 months and his first signs were milk, more, all done, food, and bird. He now attempts to say the word with most of the signs.
He says around 35 word regularly (moon, please, Mama, Dad, truck, duck, cracker, cheese, cereal, socks, shoes, Papa, Jesus, bubbles, more, NO, yes, yeah, pray, draw, mints, bye, bus, Yo Gabba Gabba, cup, fish, boat, sit, sad, scary, rain, yogurt, water, juice, milk, apple, snack, down, music).
Besides a few first words, he started really talking around 14 or 15 months. His first words were Dad, moon, and yes, followed by Papa, truck, duck, and cracker, and a bunch of other words before finally saying Mama.
Some of his words are very clear, some only sound like part of the word, but you definitely know which word he is saying. He now tries to say most of the words we tell him.
He is saying "no" more often now, and likes to say, "No, no, no, no." while shaking his head.
Other Random Facts
He will be entering Nursery at church this Sunday! It seemed like this day would never come.
He still loves toothbrushes.
He loves music and singing songs. He "snaps" his fingers when he hears music.
He has learned to blow bubbles (and loves to play in them).
He likes to walk up and down the stairs (and thinks he can do it by himself, which he can't). We live on the 3rd floor, so this takes a while.
His most frequent requests are: binky, food/milk, TV, and to go in the car (on an adventure).
We love him so much!
